Expectant Parents Throw Some Values Together At Last Minute

SAN JOSE, CA—With their baby daughter due to arrive any day now, expectant couple Drew and Francesca Mott have reportedly been scrambling this week to cobble together a working system of ethical principles and moral values they can pass along to their first child. “We kept putting off building a set of prescriptive personal beliefs, but now we’re down to the wire and still haven’t hammered out firm attitudes toward right and wrong, self-discipline, generosity, table manners, personal integrity, or any of that,” said the soon-to-be father as he and his wife quickly attempted to slap together a coherent worldview encompassing the basic nature of mankind, one’s obligations to others as human beings, and what defines a well-lived life. “The Golden Rule seems like a pretty safe bet, right? Let’s throw that in there. And we haven’t even thought about a work ethic—do we want to instill a deep sense of dedication and focus or leave more freedom to pursue rewarding outside interests? I wish we’d gotten around to this sooner.” At press time, reports confirmed the couple had relaxed upon realizing that at a certain age their child would just systematically reject any values they impressed upon her anyway.